Hypo unawareness without changing target range - how often to test

[Jollymon]

Hi @Jollymon wow you test 20 times a day! There's nothing wrong with doing that though. Can you give me a rough idea of when you do the tests please?

Like you say 'they' say blood glucose testing is much more accurate and reliable and it was after all the very first way of testing blood glucose. Even with all the cgms which are coming out and are supposed to be becoming more reliable I don't think blood glucose testing will ever be taken away.

I test about 1x per hour. I can set up and test while on the phone. I can setup and complete a test if I time it right at a traffic light. I find that sometimes I’ve tested in my sleep, and don’t remember it (other than the meter talks with my phone and logs & charts it all).

I really don’t think about testing. It’s just something that I do. I don’t feel bs, so I need to keep track of it this way. My real wish is to avoid Symogi Effect, and the crazy hi bs that comes after that.

 

[thewestiesmum]

I test about 1x per hour. I can set up and test while on the phone. I can setup and complete a test if I time it right at a traffic light. I find that sometimes I’ve tested in my sleep, and don’t remember it (other than the meter talks with my phone and logs & charts it all).

I really don’t think about testing. It’s just something that I do. I don’t feel bs, so I need to keep track of it this way. My real wish is to avoid Symogi Effect, and the crazy hi bs that comes after that.

Thanks for your reply @Jollymon.
Testing lots like that when you don't feel low bgs I would say is a sensible thing to do. Do your fingers get sore? Do you drop low a lot?
You say your meter talks to your phone - please can I ask which meter you use?

 

[Jollymon]

I use a contour next. I like it. It’s small and packable. It’s blue tooth. It has an app that communicates with my phone. The app can’t count over 1,000 at 90 days, so I divide the test qty at the 30 day mark. And that works.

I eat specifically so that I don’t have big swings in blood sugar. I’m lo carb. But activity, mood, emotions, and illness also swing bs. And sometimes a failed infusion set creates a concern. They are reasons to keep testing and not assume.

My fingers are more callused. They aren’t sore. Sometimes I need to file the rough skin off with an emory board to make them less thick. It’s just something that I know to do.

 

[Glucobabu]

Hi @Juicyj, firstly thank you for your reply. Secondly I do have another thread 'hypo unawareness and bringing BGLs back up over target' which you replied on.

My target range was 5mmol - 8mmol then I changed it to 6mmol - 10mmol.

I test with my FreesStyle libre 2 and also my meter. I've also got the diabox app. The low alarm on my fsl is set to 5.6 which is the lowest it will go. Each time my low alarm goes off on my fsl I do a scan and also a bg finger prick.

I've been doing this since the 15th December. I've had a few BGL's in the 3s probably because most likely I've ignored some of the alarms and sometimes because I've not been near my phone and also because some alarms I've simply not heard.

When I do respond to the alarms if my BGLs are in the 3s 4s or 5s in my other thread I mentioned that I was treating with small amounts of fast acting carbs but I've gone back to treating with 'my' normal amount of fast acting carbs ie 5 dextrose tablets then repeating until BGLs are back over 6mmol.

The worrying thing is that I don't think this is working because when I have gone into the 3s I still don't get any hypo awareness and could carry on as normal.

I'm thinking of giving this a better try. I have tried it but I think I need maybe 10g of extra carbs. - It’s what @Hopeful34 suggested on my other thread


I've done this myself ie without speaking to my diabetes team because I don't have a team as such - I just have a practice nurse at my gp practice but if I wanted her to she can put me back in touch with the DSN service again.
Apologies if she does understand about hypo unawareness and ways of treating it but think I would have to write it down on paper for my practice nurse to understand.

The Low alarm on Libre2 can be set much below 5.6 - unless you meant something else.